Germany. Intelligence chiefs warn against Russia. “Spiegel”: even political murders are possible

Putin’s actions are “a declaration of war against the entire free democratic world,” said the head of the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) Bruno Kahl. “The smoldering systemic rivalry has turned into an open fight,” said Thomas Haldenwang, president of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).

Both spoke at a meeting in the Bundestag on Monday. Once a year, the parliamentary scrutiny commission, which normally deliberates in secret, meets in public and asks the heads of three federal intelligence services – the BND, the BfV and the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) – to assess current affairs.

Russia’s attack in Ukraine is a “game changer” in all security-related policy areas, said BfV head Haldenwang. It has a direct impact on internal security German. In April, the German government expelled 40 Russian spies from the country. “But these are not all of them,” said the head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

The threshold for forecasted actions by Russian secret services in Germany has lowered. The BfV has developed scenarios as high as murders in Germany, reports Spiegel.

In 2019, the murder of a citizen caused a stir Georgia in exile in Berlin. The research carried out by “Spiegel” and the Bellingcat and Insider websites proved that the crime was ordered by the Russian secret services – the portal reminds.